Introduction

I set out to develop an entire web application solely using free AI programming tools. Would their output measure up to the results delivered at $10 a month on GitHub Copilot? I recorded the whole process in a timelapse video which includes my end product hosted on GitHub.

The Project & Tools

TaskFlow App

I developed TaskFlow, a collaborative task management application which includes:

User Sign-In

Tasks can be tracked via drag-and-drop.

Group work capabilities

Updates are immediate

Infographics concerning data

The Free AI Assistants

Codeium: For my personal contextual-aware coding assistant

Replit AI: Ideal for explaining coding concepts and prototyping features

Tabnine: Superb at completing identified patterns and suggesting consistent naming conventions for variables

Others: Blackbox AI, CodeWhisperer (Free Tier), and Cursor.so for other specialized undertakings

Development Highlights

What Went Well

Frontend Development: Features of AI tools are extremely good at deriving components of React from comment descriptions.

Boilerplate Code: Block time by creating entire authentication structures and API endpoints.

Consistency: Preserved the codebase’s uniform culture relating to naming conventions.

Learning Opportunity: AI provided me with different reasoning, discovering ways that I have not encountered before.

Real-World Results

Since implementing AI coding tools into my workflow, my coding speed, skills, and overall productivity increased by 60%. Tasks that previously took me an entire day were completed in mere hours—thanks to AI-assisted development.

Key Productivity Gains

• Reduced context-switching – Less toggling between docs and editor (check out my developer workflow tips for more)
• Faster framework integration – AI sped up my use of React and Node.js (see my React optimization guide)
• Fewer syntax errors – Cleaner, more efficient code (related: how I debug with AI)
• Automated test generation – AI-generated test cases saved hours (learn more in my testing strategies post)

For a deeper dive, watch my TaskFlow development timelapse or explore the GitHub repository.

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Key Productivity Gains

 Reduced toggling between documentation and the editor
→ AI tools like Codeium and Tabnine provide instant code suggestions, cutting down manual lookups.

 Accelerated application of established frameworks
→ Leveraged AI to quickly implement React DnD for drag-and-drop and Express.js for backend routing.

 Decrease in syntax-related blunders
→ Tools like Replit AI and CodeWhisperer catch errors in real-time, similar to ESLint.

 Prompt creation of testing scenarios
→ Used AI to auto-generate test cases with Jest and React Testing Library.

Conclusion

During my initial work with AI, the free options provided me with approximately 80-90% of the functionality I needed when compared to the paid versions. Although free tools serve their best purpose as companions rather than substitutes, they do enhance productivity for monetarily constrained developers.

The TaskFlow application illustrates what can be accomplished with the aid of no-cost AI technologies. Don’t miss the development timelapse as well as the GitHub repository to witness the outcomes firsthand.

Has anyone put together anything interesting with AI tools? I’d love to read your stories done in the comments!